Darwin, NT, AU

With a forecast of 37° C and high humidity, we canceled our planned tour of Litchfield NP to view the termite mounds. We are in the Northern Territory of Australia, pronounced “Top End.” Darwin has beautiful beaches with marine hazards from stinging jellies to saltwater crocodiles. There is a swim lagoon and wave pool, but I was already soaked just walking around town. The port hosted a stuffed Monitor Lizard, so I offered it a chance to monitor my shoulder bag. 

I cannot embrace the local megafauna and I did not buy any stuffed kangaroos or crocodiles, not even a koala. I reported back to JG that the prices for souvenirs were 1/3 to 1/2 the prices in Kuranda, which pleased him because he had pegged it as a tourist trap. The Darwin public toilet did not have soap or paper towels but it did have a sharps disposal slot.  I strolled through empty parks on a Sunday, walked around the wharf, and admired SUV’s kitted out with racks to hold fishing tackle. Why is the AUD 1 coin larger than the AUD 2 coin?

Darwin has been rebuilt twice: once after the Japanese bombed it repeatedly in 1942 and again after Cyclone Tracy flattened the Central Business District in 1975. The Aussies I talked to had a few choice words for me as an American. First, that during the first T—-p presidential administration over 40,000 Americans understandably emigrated to Australia. Second, for the third time I heard that a T—-p could never happen in Australia, where voting is universal and compulsory.   I have modified the name because this is a public blog and a name search by trolling bots would be unwelcome.

The Aussies deeply believe that everyone loses when only half the eligible electorate votes. I think it’s the wrong half in the USA, but I am touched by Australian democratic fervor. 

We visited the WWII era tunnels built for oil storage. Within the dark, muggy tunnel we read wall displays about Darwin during the War. The unfortunates of the Royal Australian Air Force got air-bombed and had no anti-aircraft guns to dissuade the Japanese. Building the tunnels was a case of one mistake after another, Murphy’s Law style, but with lives at stake and lost.  On one count there were 700 faulty joints that needed soldering. JG says, “Generals are always prepared to fight the previous war” but also the war leadership in Darwin was inexperienced even by WWI standards. After Singapore easily fell to the Japanese in 1942, 85,000 British, Indian, and Commonwealth soldiers became prisoners of war. Miners, ranchers and fishermen were now supposed defend Australia. The RAF was trying to hold onto the UK while it was being bombed by the Luftwaffe.  I am indignant at how useless our so-called ally was. Chiang Kai-Shek‘s China lily-dipped in the fighting. Meanwhile, JG is reading Robert Dallek’s biography of Franklin Roosevelt, so I can conveniently get my WWII questions answered.